Late lap sends De Pasquale to provisional pole
By Thomas Miles
Date posted: 21 April 2024
A tight and dry Race 8 qualifying went down to the wire and it was Anton De Pasquale, who had the most speed.
De Pasquale took provisional pole with a 1:27.0928, which was just enough to squeeze ahead of Chaz Mostert by 0.0272s.
Both Will Brown and Matt Payne were also within a tenth in a competitive battle, while the likes of Ryan Wood, Broc Feeney, Tim Slade, Brodie Kostecki, Jack Le Brocq and Thomas Randle will feature in the one-lap dash for pole.
After securing a famous breakthrough win in the rain, Andre Heimgartner missed the cut by 0.04s and will start from 11th alongside Cam Waters.
Whilst De Pasquale led the way, DJR teammate Will Davison could only manage 18th, while Nick Percat will start last for a second day in a row.
After Saturday’s big wet, drivers and fans were pleased to see a dry track at Taupo for Sunday morning qualifying.
Much like the opening day, Penrite Racing’s Matt Payne was fast out of the gates with his 1:27.2601 the early benchmark.
It proved to be a tenth clear of the rest of the field with the returning reigning champion Brodie Kostecki back to his best putting the #1 into second.
After 10 minutes Brown had another crack and set a purple middle sector to come just 0.002s away from knocking off Payne.
The sister Erebus Motorsport entry of Jack Le Brocq also made a big leap from 14th to fifth.
With two minutes to go the entire field was on track for one last roll of the dice to make the Shootout.
Many set personal best sectors as the likes of Wood, Stanaway, Randle, Le Brocq, Heimgartner and Feeney made late moves into the 10, but not all of them could make it.
It was De Pasquale, who had the most pace and lowered the benchmark to 1:27.0928 to knock Mostert off the top at the death.
The lap kicked out Saturday race winner Heimgartner from the 10.
Five Camaros and five Mustangs will feature in the Top 10 Shootout at 10.25 AEST today.
Image: Peter Norton EPIC Sports Photography
Taupo Super400 Race 8 Qualifying results
Taupo Super400 schedule (all times AEST)
Friday, April 19
Practice: 1: C. Mostert 1:26.4937 2: M. Payne +0.0318 3: W. Davison +0.0508
Saturday, April 20
Qualifying Race 7: 1: M. Payne 1:27.9684 2: A. De Pasquale +0.0940 3: C. Mostert +0.1669
Top 10 Shootout: 1: C. Waters 1:34.7415 2: W. Brown +0.5011 3: A. Heimgartner +0.5374
Race 7 (60 laps): 1: A. Heimgartner 2: W. Davison +1.1012 3: A. De Pasquale +2.5641
Sunday, April 21
Qualifying Race 8: 08.45
Top 10 Shootout: 10.25
Race 7 (60 laps): 13.05
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Podcast: We’re going to Taupo… Tow Paw… Whatever. Supercars is back!
After a break that feels like months, the Supercars Championship is back and headed across the ditch to Taupo in the middle of the North Island. And yes, Brodie Kostecki will be there! As will the rain.
Somehow, the rain will also be in China for F1’s return to 中国. Philip Island was stunning on the weekend, just gone, if a little cold, but we chatted about whether Supercars should return to the land of penguins.
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